The year of 2003 has been great for NHB fans and fighters in Brazil so far, and events continue to pop up on and on in different corners of the country! FCF readers have been witness to the evolution of the Northeastern Brazilian NHB scene, with several events happening in different cities, from small ones to the likes of Bitetti Combat, local fighters have been having plenty of action in the past months. The Northeast is not alone in this trend of new events popping up, as the Southeastern region in Brazil (where major cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are located) is fighting the bans in the capitals, but managing to hold events like Brazilian Gladiators 2, and some new ones that are in the works for the near future [Don't miss the upcoming editions of the Brazilian Beat for more on that]. Obviously the South of Brazil couldn’t let the other regions overtake them, since the city of Curitiba (located in the southern region) promotes the most important NHB event of the country, MECA World Vale Tudo, and our sport just broke yet new ground in Brazil as the small but cozy city of Sao Bento, in the state of Santa Catarina, just held its first NHB event ever!
Sao Bento Vale Tudo Superfight 1 was an effort done by local promoters, along with the help of Chute Boxe master and MECA promoter Rudimar Fedrigo on the organization side of the event. The show was somewhat lacking in experienced and talented fighters in most fights, as was expected, but a crowd of very educated and avid NHB action fans were on hand, as well as fighters willing to learn and give their all in the ring. A crowd of over 800 spectators paid witness to a card consisting of two exhibition Muay Thai matches and five NHB fights, featuring local fighters as well as some more experienced players including MECA veteran Jadson fighting out of the Chute Boxe team for the first time in his career. One of the biggest attractions of the evening were the referees in charge for the bouts, which included names like PRIDE superstar Wanderlei Silva, MECA and PRIDE veteran Murilo Ninja Rua and even FCF’s own Eduardo Alonso [your humble reporter].

B.A. attempts choke

The action inside the ring brought knockdowns, cuts, reversals and submissions, giving the local audience their first taste of the sport, and they sure loved it. The most anticipated fight on the card was the main event featuring Chute Boxe new addition Jadson facing a local fighter, the city’s most famous Hapkido instructor Josni. Jadson showed that his training with Chute Boxe Jiu-Jitsu instructor and Royler Gracie black belt Cristiano Marcelo has been paying off, as he escaped a rear-naked choke attempt to pass his opponent’s guard, mount him and finish him in a textbook armbar debuting victoriously in his first Chute Boxe outing. Other standouts were STORM veteran Sarion, who debuted in NHB with a solid performance and "B.A" [up to this point I have been unsuccessful in discovering his real name] who faced a fighter out of the Brazilian Impacto team and showed some decent wrestling skills and a lot of power to earn the win. Once again our sport broke new ground and now those fans at Sao Bento do Sul will never forget their NHB experience on this past Friday night at April 11th, causing Sao Bento Vale Tudo 2 to happen in the near future and FCF will be there once again showing the true and most complete NHB coverage in the world!

Durata grand prix is made of 3 qualification international tournaments and final event will be for the new IVC World Champion belt with participation of the new GENERATION of BRAZILAN IVC Fighter.
M. Sergio BATARELLI himself (IVC World President) will assist the IVC final grand prix .

First event will be on 03. 05. 2003. in Zagreb in Dom sportova 8 000 seats
* Second event / in August 2003 Opatija Open air theatre
* Third event / October 2003 Rijeka Dvorana Mladosti
* Final IVC event / december 2003 Zagreb Dom sportova
Also on the first edition :
For the first time we will have three prestige fights in kickboxing
Croatian top fighters :
Princ – 76,200 kg, Ivosevic – 82,100 kg, Majkic – 85,500 kg.
Will compete under WKN rules and regulation . It will be the first WKN promotion in CROATIA .

Kickboxing: The Kickboxing events showcased some heavy hitting and the TaeKwonDo background of the majority of the participants. The kickboxing fight of the night saw Dominic Ripoli survive a monstrous early onslaught from Alvin Harvey and go on to win by corner stoppage in the 2nd round.

MMA: The MMA portion of the event saw A LOT of power shots. Even the fights that went to the judges saw a lot of big shots and knockdowns. The event showcased the return of the "Bumble Bee" Mark Wiggins, who made his return to the ring after a long layoff. Mark offered to fight twice since one fighter’s opponent no showed. In a battle that pitted to game competitors with less than 3 months of training between them, TaeKwonDo stylist Anthony "Little Rampage" Niel put away Kung Fu stylist Douglas Peacock via verbal submission following a huge slam and the ensuing hammer fists. David "Letter D" Elmenhurst lived up to his logo "THE HULK" with a devastating performance. There is truly a lot of power and agility in his 5’4" 220-pound frame! The bombs didn’t stop there. Jason Merrell took on Charles "de Vinci" Adkins and displayed a HUGE right hand. Adkins survived the first right hand and did some damange with his leg kicks, but the second crushing right from Merrell stopped the fight. Once again the Doctor made a house call. Dr. Seth "Kevorkian" Klienbeck M.D. after assisting with the pre-fight physicals KO’d John Cammarata and then assisted the fight doc in reviving him. That makes 2 of the last 3 in a row that "Dr Death" has had to attend to his opponent after a fight. In the MMA fight of the night Don Johnson squeaked out a split decision of Jayme McKinney. This fight was a classic striker (McKinney) vs. grappler (Johnson). Johnson was able to control the ground portion of the fight, but was forced to take some punishment to get his takedowns. A very exciting fight!

David "Letter D" Elmenhurst (LDMA) def Brandon Hix: KO :56 2nd

Mark "Bumble Bee" Wiggins (LDMA) def Chris Strom: Choke 2:05 1st

Mark "Bumble Bee" Wiggins (LDMA) def Mark Barrett: Unanimous Dec.

Anthony "Little Rampage" Niel (LDMA) def Douglas Peacock: TKO :44 1st

Jason Merrell def Charles "DeVinci" Adkins (LDMA): TKO :54 2nd

Dirk Hamilton (LDMA) def Daniel Broyles: Choke :34 1st

Jason Strom def Stuart Godfrey: Choke 1:23 1st

Don Johnson (LDMA/Alliance Jiujitsu) def Jayme McKinney: Split Dec

Seth "Kevorkian" Kleinbeck (LDMA) def John Cammarata: KO :43 1

This was a great event and all the fighters showed great technique and excellent sportsmanship.

From Bender/Helper Impact (DSE/Pride Reps):

DREAM STAGE ENTERTAINMENT ENTERS PARTNERSHIP WITH SKY PerfecTV! AND NAMES NEW PRESIDENT

DSE unveils upcoming 2003-2004 PRIDE FC events
Featuring First Event in U.S.!
Los Angeles, CA – April 16, 2003 – Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE), home to mixed-martial arts and full-contact sports PRIDE Fighting Championships (PRIDE FC), announced today a number of significant developments at the company. The largest digital satellite television provider in Japan, SKY PerfecTV!, has signed on as a partial owner of the company. Also announced was the promotion of Nobuyuki Sakakibara as DSE’s new president, and the 2003-2004 Pride FC event schedule — featuring Pride FC’s debut in the U.S., in January 2004 in Las Vegas.

"This is a tremendously exciting time for Pride FC," said Yukino Kanda, PRIDE FC’s Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Talent Relations. "With a major corporate commitment from SKY PerfecTV!, a new president, a growing fan base, and some first-rate events on the horizon, including the debut in the US – our future looks very bright."

Nobuyuki Sakakibara founded PRIDE FC in 1997 and joined Dream Stage Entertainment in 1999 as chief producer. In the summer of 2002 he was promoted to managing director. Prior to joining DSE, Sabakibara worked for Tokai TV Promotional Co., Ltd. where he produced events including the Tokai Classic" International Golf Tournament and the annual summer music festival "Kai-Yu-Sai."

With a rapidly growing fan base in North America, PRIDE FC is experiencing another banner year. Together with its pay-per-view carriers and partners, PRIDE FC will soon be able to bring the incredible excitement of PRIDE FC to virtually every cable and satellite home in the U.S. and Canada. A new relationship with iN DEMAND PPV, will enable PRIDE FC to reach an additional pay-per-view audience of 28 million. iN DEMAND will begin carrying PRIDE FC events on June 13, 2003.